Hi smee,
what would you do it is actually a bit more complicated than you think..
First of all you can't just swap the two panels, but after the installation you need to code the new panel on your car.
but this probably will not be enough to make it work.. Indeed the manual and the dual zone automatic are different systems, and in addition to the simple control panel you would need the solar radiation sensor, the anti-fog sensor, the air quality sensor for auto-recirculation and air box specific to the two zone system.
I don't know if through coding is possible to disable the internal checks and errors for the missing sensors, but in my opinion is very hard.
You should try to install and code the single zone control panel, that actually works in an automatic way, just like the dual zone.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-2-SERIES...VYSQU5&vxp=mtr
But if this is an option that was not expected to be on your mate's F20 I think this swap is not possible..